DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, about a mile south of where you're rolling right now, there's a piece of Tyler County history that goes back to the very roots of this region — and I mean roots, because this story starts with timber, water, cornmeal, and one family that just kept showing up. This is the story of Enloe Mill.
Benjamin Enloe arrived in this part of Texas in 1837. By 1849 he had bought the property on Billums Creek — and that particular stretch of creek mattered, because where Belts Creek flows in, the current picks up speed. Swift enough, as it turned out, to turn a water-wheel and generate power.
So around 1840, somebody had the good sense to put a mill right there, and Benjamin Enloe gave it his name. Now Benjamin didn't work alone, and he didn't work just one generation. His son David ran the mill.
David's son George ran the mill. Three generations of Enloes, known across the county as mill operators. That's the kind of staying power that gets a place remembered.
And what came out of that mill? The essentials. Cornmeal for bread.
Lumber for homes, for buildings — and for something else worth noting. When Tyler County needed its first frame courthouse up in Woodville, built in 1852, the lumber came from Enloe Mill. David Enloe, the son, was county sheriff at the time.
The man was milling the wood and keeping the peace. The mill also ginned cotton — that was the money product, as the marker puts it — which tells you this wasn't just a subsistence operation. People came from a wide region to get to this mill, and when enough people start traveling the same direction, a road tends to follow.
One of the area's main roads grew up right out of that traffic, later known as Boone's Ferry Road. It connected Fort Teran with the Old Spanish Trail running from Liberty to Nacogdoches, and it crossed right at the point where you're driving now. By 1857, Tyler County had twenty-seven mills operating.
Twenty-seven. Enloe Mill was one of them — not the only one, but one of the earliest, and one that left its mark on what came after. Texas in those days was better known for raw materials than manufactured goods, but it was landmarks like this one, out here on Billums Creek, that built the kind of self-reliance a young state needs to find its footing.
Three generations of one family, a swift current, and a well-placed wheel — sometimes that's all it takes to leave a mark that lasts over a hundred years.
What the marker says
Site of One of Earliest Tyler County Landmarks Enloe Mill (1 mi. south) A major contributor to county and state history. Built about 1840 on Billums Creek, where the swift current made by inflow of Belts Creek would turn a water-wheel, to generate power. Mill took name from owner Benjamin Enloe, an 1837 settler who bought this property in 1849. Enloe, his son David and grandson George were known to several generations as mill operators. From this mill came lumber for the first frame courthouse in Woodville, built in 1852 while David Enloe was county sheriff. As people came from wide region to this mill, there grew up one of area's main roads (later known as Boone's Ferry Road), connecting Fort Teran with the Old Spanish Trail from Liberty to Nacogdoches and crossing present road at this point. Enloe Mill, one of 27 in Tyler County by 1857, produced essentials of life for settlers: Cornmeal for their bread and lumber for erecting homes and other buildings. This mill also ginned cotton, their "money" product. Although long known for its raw materials rather than manufactured goods, Texas gained self-reliance from early landmarks such as Enloe Mill. (1968)